Bids OK'd for Downers Grove Transition 99 facility

District 99 school board members approved more than $750,000 in bids to renovate 4232 Venard Road for the new Transition 99 building. (Dawn Rhodes, Chicago Tribune)

Downers Grove high school officials have given the green light to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to renovate a vacant building that will be the new home for the district's post-graduate program.

Community High School District 99 school board members unanimously approved $758,000 in contract work for the property at 4232 Venard Road.

The district plans to move its Transition 99 students and staff to the facility just off Ogden Avenue at the start of 2014. Transition 99 helps special needs students who have graduated from high school prepare for independent living.

Bids from 10 different contractors were approved Sept. 16. The work reflects the wide scope of work needed on the vacant building, including demolition, flooring, plumbing and ventilation. The most pricey contract is for more than $236,000 for carpentry work.

District facilities director Jim Kolodziej said officials received nearly 50 proposals for the project.

"We're pleased to be within budget for the bids received," Kolodziej told the board. "There is remaining site work for this project and we'll bid that separately."

Transition 99 students received lessons at North and South high schools last year, but officials felt it was important for the program to have its own building. Staff told the board in July that it was targeting the Venard Road property.

Plans for the building include a kitchen, three classrooms, offices, storage and wireless Internet. The bids also include the price for a staff bathroom, shower area and a fourth classroom, which officials had not planned to add for a few years.

"It's nice to see that a couple of these bids are going to businesses located within District 99," board member Mike Davenport said. "We like to keep the dollars here when we can."

Construction is expected to take place from late September to December, officials said.